Dixie State University professor named dental hygiene Educator of the Year

Selected from
faculty members representing the entire nation, Dixie State University Associate
Professor of Dental Hygiene Brenda Armstrong was honored as the American Dental
Hygienists’ Association Educator of the Year.

Annually
sponsored by the association and Crest/Oral B, the award recognizes a dental
hygiene faculty member who provides students with high-quality education. The
awardee is honored at the ADHA annual conference and is given $1,000 to use
toward teaching endeavors.

“I am
humbled and grateful,” Armstrong said. “I was educated by wonderful mentors at
the University of Minnesota, had a fabulous experience at a community college
helping to open a new dental hygiene program and then came to Dixie State,
where I have been supported by department and College of Health Sciences
colleagues. Additionally, I have been mentored by teaching experts at Dixie
State’s Center for Teaching and Learning. Importantly, it has always been about
the students, and Dixie State has some of the best.”

Armstrong,
who began teaching at Dixie State in 2013, has been a dental hygienist for 36
years. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Weber State and a Master of Dental
Hygiene with an emphasis in education from the University of Minnesota. Prior
to coming to Dixie State, Armstrong taught at Thomas Nelson Community College
in Williamsburg, Virginia.

Dixie State’s Dental Hygiene Program instructs students in the theoretical
knowledge and clinical skills essential for dental hygiene practice and is
fully accredited by the Commission of Dental Accreditation. Additionally, students
develop clinical skills in the university’s Public Dental Hygiene Clinic, where
they provide low-cost oral health care education and dental hygiene services
under faculty supervision.

“We have a
strong presence in the community by providing access to oral health care to
vulnerable populations in Washington County at the Dixie State Public Dental
Hygiene Clinic,” Armstrong said. “The department’s faculty and staff truly care
about the students and the community we serve.”